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Curiously There is GMO Soy in Discount Tuna

Prop 37 was defeated in California so there will be no labeling of GMO foods in the immediate future. There are some companies that are able to label their foods as non-GMO but it’s tough for them to identify supply chains so at the moment in order to be GMO free you’ll need to eat solely organic foods. That is expensive.

I’m trying to set the stage here so that y’all understand that there might be some GMO foods in my home (besides the $40 Twinkies I just sold on craigslist). It’s nearly impossible to avoid GMO foods in the US but it’s still an ideal worth striving toward.

You should also understand that along with Monsanto, brands like Coca Cola, Kraft, Nestle, and Bumble Bee gave tens of millions of dollars to fight labeling. These aren’t small amounts of money so one must assume that these food manufactures want to quietly keep GMOs in the food supply. To be clear, Prop 37 called for labeling of GMOs not elimination of them.

What’s fascinating (and a little frightening) to me is how good Bumble Bee’s social media team is. Leah Segedie posted something on their facebook page asking about GMOs and the conversation got interesting fast.

As much as I appreciate Bumble Bee’s seemingly upfront response:

Soybeans grown in commercial quantities in the United States include both GM and non-GM varieties, but current regulations do not require the identification and labeling of these varieties, so consequently, our products containing soy broth may or may not be produced from GM soybeans. For more information, please visit the FAQs section of our website:http://www.bumblebee.com/faqs

It’s simply not a complete response. If you are eating conventionally grown soy in America you are eating a GMO crop. It’s either organic or it’s GMO.

The conversation turned in a few different directions. Why is there soy in Bumble Bee Tuna? What are they feeding the fish? What about mercury?

The social media manager did something that I think is brilliant. What do you think about this?

I think it was respectful and smart. I also hadn’t realized until that moment that I was on the Bumble Bee Foods facebook page. I thought I was on Leah’s wall and they’d just been tagged. I’m not looking to fight with Bumble Bee Foods. I think we all learned from Oprah’s Hamburger right?

Well, the bloggers didn’t think it was a good response and this happened.

And a few hours later the posts remain.

As someone who worries a lot about our oceans and our bodies Bumble Bee wasn’t a brand that ended up on my shelf. It’s just not the way I like to provide nutrition. I don’t really have a dog in this particular race.

Leah is an important woman. She brings health and fitness to thousands of women online in a non-judgmental way that is very well received (I happen to be too judgmental for her schtick). If Leah is talking about GMO Foods then you can assume that thousands of other women will be talking about it on their blogs too. She’s the Queen Bee in that realm.

Is Bumble Bee brilliant to let her post stick or foolish? We just got done talking about the Pantages, now we’ve got another LA Lady mixing it up.

Does your product contain GMOs?

Bumble Bee Foods Hi Leah. Soybeans grown in commercial quantities in the United States include both GM and non-GM varieties, but current regulations do not require the identification and labeling of these varieties, so consequently, our products containing soy broth may or may not be produced from GM soybeans. For more information, please visit the FAQs section of our website:http://www.bumblebee.com/faqs

Amy TuckerJessica Wilzig Gottlieb I suppose it helps when I read for comprehension, huh? I was thinking catfish feed which makes no sense since we’re talking about freaking tuna. Obviously I need another cup of coffee.

Kimberly Bondi Grabinski Soy is a cheap filler and in addition to the negative health affects of GMOs it is also an endocrine disruptor. Studies have shown it affects children and may be a cause of rising infertility. GMO soy is a double whammy.

Jessica Wilzig GottliebKimberly Bondi Grabinski if we’re talking about the overall health of the food (and the planet) and not just the GMO status no one should be worried about Bumble Bee Foods anyhow. The world’s tuna population is in peril, tuna is full of mercury and it’s irresponsible to eat it and dangerous to give to children in larger quantities. Stick with small fish.

Kimberly Bondi Grabinski Ah ok, I haven’t seen that. One of the struggles we have here is that we just don’t have the markets yet for some of these products. I can drive to Whole Foods 90 minutes away and get it, but then I wonder how sustainable that action really is. I’m trying to balance buying local and in season and avoid the crap that shouldn’t be in food. It’s a challenge but eventually, hopefully, I will have more options. I walk through the grocery store here and just shake my head.

Bumble Bee Foods Hi all. It’s important that we reinforce that our products meet the standards and guidelines for food quality and safety set by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, as well as all other international regulators. For those who enjoy our products and brand, we’ve created this Facebook page as a community to provide and share recipes, brand news and everyday health and wellness information. Per the page Rules of Engagement, we are removing this post because of its political nature.

Danika Carter You’re not removing this because it’s political in nature, you’re removing it because you are afraid of this conversation growing. But as a social media professional, I’m sure you know that the uproar that will come from censoring this conversation will only draw even more attention to the issue. It will not make it go away. This has been a very civil conversation by customers with genuine concerns. If you don’t like this conversation, you’re better off addressing your customer’s concerns than censoring the conversation to try and hide the truth. I know several of the women in this conversation, and trust me, you don’t want to censor this conversation, because I can guarantee that the negative publicity you will be hit with as these women share their experience will me much worse for your company. You can assume they’ve already taken screen shots and will share them far and wide if this conversation disappears. Learn from other companies who’ve made the mistake of censoring conversations on their pages and had that decision go viral very fast.

Lucrecer White Braxton I hope you do not take this post down. I like your products, but I have a child with a chronic illness and I have to be more careful about the products I choose. I would love to see you not have a product that contains GMOs. That is all.

Katherine Bewley This isn’t a political issue at all. This is about the health and wellness of the people in our country. That is insane you would say it as such. Thank you for the information! I had no idea soy was included in tuna. That’s very unfortunate, as I did pick your tuna for my children’s sandwiches because I believed it was a healthy option.

Anna HackmanBumble Bee Foods, first rule of business. Listen to your customers. Is there really a need to have soy in your products? Simply asking to have it this link taken down you are totally ignoring what social media is all about. Address, Fix it (if you can) and then gain more customers. The winner is obvious.

Lori Westberry Watson “that our products meet the standards and guidelines for food quality and safety set by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, as well as all other international regulators” Because, yes, the USDA, etc DO have our best interest at heart. ::rolling my eyes:: Reformulate or lose business. Do what is right. Quit with the GMOs.

Christine Mathias This isn’t going to be a popular comment with a lot of you, many of whom I consider to be friends, but I think calling legal food products that you don’t like “contaminants” *is* a political statement. I’m all for removing GMO’s but creating an adversarial atmosphere on a brand’s Facebook page isn’t the way to go about it in my humble opinion. :)

Letting Bumble Bee how much support they would get from our community being an industry leader by electing to remove all GMO from their products is a far more powerful statement.

Lucrecer White Braxton Believe me when I say I want to support Bumble Bee. That is why my statement was asking them to be an industry leader. I happen to like the taste of their product better and the cost is where I like it. I want to see them lead in the industry, because not too many others are right now. We like tuna. Love it, in fact, I just want to protect a child who is sensitive to certain things being in her foods. And, props to Bumble Bee for keeping this post up. That speaks volumes. :)

maybe in the oil packed tuna? It’s so weird that I can’t even try to understand.

http://pop-pr.blogspot.com Jeremy Pepper

This just ruins Yom Kippur. If I ate tuna fish, of course.

http://jessicagottlieb.com JessicaGottlieb

Now I’m confused. Who eats tuna or Yom Kippur? If you say you put it on white bread I’ll out you as a goy.

http://pop-pr.blogspot.com Jeremy Pepper

Um, what do you do for breaking of the fast?! Egg salad, tuna salad, blintzes, bagels with all the accoutrements. And bobka.

http://www.thismamacooks.com/ Anne-Marie Nichols

It’s the tuna packed in oil. Most healthy folks get the water packed tuna.

http://pop-pr.blogspot.com Jeremy Pepper

Thanks – and that makes a little bit more sense. But now confused that people actually buy the tuna packed in oil. Never understood that option.

Leah Segedie

I’m thinking there IS soy in tuna and GM soy at that. BUT I read somewhere they are suing @GMOInside for labeling their product and taking a picture of it and putting it on Pinterest, etc. But this brand is a total “mom” product and people think it’s healthy, which is NOT true. They need to know.

This is directly from the Bumble Bee website. The last sentence answers your question;

Why does Bumble Bee add vegetable broth to canned tuna?

Vegetable Broth is added to our canned tuna products as an optional flavoring ingredient. It enhances the flavor of tuna, resulting in a more mild, delicate taste. The broth currently used is derived from vegetables such as beans, peas, celery or carrots. The broth also generally contains a soy protein, which is why some of our products declare, “contains soy.”

A tip on produce codes: if it has five digits and starts with a 9 it is organic. If it is 4 digits and starts with a 4 (or any other number except 8) it is conventionally grown. If there are 4 digits and the first is an 8 you’re holding a GMO item.

http://jessicagottlieb.com JessicaGottlieb

This is such valuable information. Thank you!

http://www.facebook.com/leah.segedie Leah Segedie

This is all voluntary labeling. Have you ever actually SEEN a GMO label? IT’s not accurate. AT ALL.

http://www.facebook.com/leah.segedie Leah Segedie

Weekly I have people put this information on my wall. And guess what, voluntary labeling is not labeling. It means…”hey mr. gmo vegetable…can you PLEASE label your shit? I’m not forcing you to and I dont’ really expect you to but I’d just like to be able to confuse people by saying we already have labeling. Is that okay?” ….cause that is what is happening.

boritzs@aol.com

i bought a can of tuna in an organic store. soy is not listed as an ingredient, but it says packaged in a plant that processes soy. what does that mean

Rebecca Nyberg

It means that they use the same equipment to package the kind you bought AND the kind with soy oil or soy broth in it.